Automatic cap pistol



Jan. 4, 1949. w. RIEDERlcH AUTOMATIC CAP PISTOL Filed April 27, 1944 ATTORNEYS Patented Jan. 4, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE AUTOMATIC CAP PISTOL William Riederich, Elmhurst, Ill.

Application April 27, 1944, Serial No. 533,075

6 Claims. l

'I'he desirability of an automatic cap pistol as a toy has long been recognized. Various attempts have been made to provide such a toy pistol, but none of the results have been satisfactory. According to the present invention, a number of features are combined toward providing a satisfactory automatic cap pistol.

One problem has been the provision of adequate power within the space available in a pistol of reasonably realistic appearance. This problem is solved in the preferred form of the present invention by extending a spring through the length of the barrel portion of the gun.

Another problem concerns safety. This has been satised by having the explosion of the caps occur within a closed chamber, the construction being such that the caps are fed in from the outside so that the gun does not have to be open to feed the caps, as this would expose the explosion chamber. In this connection, a desirable feature of the gun is that the caps are fed in from the side near the breech portion of the gun, this being suggestive of the belt-fed machine guns with which children are now familiar from photographs and moving pictures.

Another problem which has been solved by applicant is the reliable feeding of the tape of caps. In the preferred form, this is accomplished .by feed rollers, one of which is knurled and driven. It grips the tape tightly enough for reliable feed but not enough to explode the caps.

Still another feature of the invention is in a brake mechanism for controlling the speed of fire as Well as stopping the fire entirely, this being controlled by the trigger.

In addition to all of the foregoing, the preferred form of the toy gun blows smoke out of the muzzle, thus simulating real guns in a novel way and tending to avoid failures due to the formation of residue on the inside of the gun.

Additional objects and advantages of the gun will be apparent from the following description and from the drawings in which:

Fig. lis a perspective view of the preferred form of the gun;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal, sectional view through the same form -of the gun;

Fig. 3 is a vertical, sectional view taken approximately on the irregular line 3--3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary, vertical, sectional view taken on the irregular line 4-4 of Fig. 2 to show especially the hammer and brake mechanisms: and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary, horizontal, sectionaly view taken on the irregular line B-l ofFlg. 2,

showing especially the tape-feeding mechanism.

A preferred form of the invention has been chosen for illustration and description, in compliance with Section 4888 of the Revised Statutes, but persons skilled in the art will readily preceive other means for accomplishing the same results, and the claims are, therefore intended to protect the invention as broadly as possible, consistent with the prior art.

The general nature of the preferred form of the invention can be seen from Fig. 1. In this figure it will be seen that the cap pistol includes a barrel portion II, a grip or stock portion I2 and a trigger I3. A roll of caps I4 is fed through a slot I6. When the trigger is squeezed and held, the tape of caps is drawn into the gun, the caps are red in succession and smoke is blown out of an orifice I1 at the front of the gun representing the muzzle of the barrel.

In order to have the gun re automatically for a satisfactory length of time, it is necessary to provide means for storing up a considerable amount of energy. As seen in Fig. 2, this is accomplished by providing a helically wound spring I9 in the barrel portion of the gun. By placing it in the barrel portion, adequate space is made available for a long-running spring. As will be observed from Fig. 2, it extends nearly the full length of the barrel portion. In the illustrated form, the spring is wound by inserting a key 2l in the front end of the barrel, the spring being held wound by a ratchet 22 and pawl 23. The spring is wound around a core 24 which may be loosely mounted and serves to hold the spring in position and prevent Winding it too far. One end of the spring is attached to collar 26 which is rigid with ratchet 22 and the other end is attached to collar 21 on shaft 28 which is journalled in gear box 29. The gear box 29 is rigidly mounted to the gun housing.

In small guns, it is desirable to use as much of the barrel length for the spring as possible, but evenhalf the barrel length would give more length than is lavailable across the stock.

The spring I9 through shaft 28 operates the hammer 3|. To this end, shaft 28 carries gear 32 which, as seen best in Fig. 3, carries four pins 33. As the gear 32 rotates, these pins successively engage lever 34 which is fixed on shaft 36 to which the hammer 3| is also rigidly secured, as best seen in Fig. 4. The hammer 3l strikes against an anvil plate 3l along which the caps are fed. Both the hammer and the anvil are outside of the gear box so that the debris from the explosion of the caps cannot get into the gears. The hammer 3| is constantly urged toward the anvil 31 by a spring 35 so that it snaps against the anvil each time a pin 33 passes out from under lever 34. 'I'he fact that the gear box fully encloses the gears also avoids danger of injury to childrens fingers if the gun should be opened, although it is contemplated that the gun will not need to be opened.

The tape of caps I4 is fed along the underside of anvil plate 31 by knurled feed rollers, or by one such roller directed against a pressure member. The feed roller 36 is mounted on shaft 4| which also carries a pinion 42 driven by gear 32. The feed roller 39 is an idler pressure roller and probably need not be knurled. It is pressed rmly toward driven roller 38 by a spring 43 which may be lifted by lever 44 and button 46 to permit movement of a tape of caps between rollers 38 and 39. This is desirable in starting the strip of caps between the rollers or in the event that it should be desired to remove a strip of caps after it had been started or partially fired. Fig. 4 shows the button 46 pressed down to raise the pressure roller 39. To grip the tape best, the feed rollers are preferably capable of meshing.

The ratio of gears 32 and 42 is such as to rotate the feed roller 38 a sufficient angular distance for each hammer blow so that theoretically it should move the tape I4 slightly further than the distance at which the caps are spaced thereon.-

This is to compensate for any slippage or creepage between the roller 38 and the tape I4 in order to ensure that a fresh cap will be presented to the hammer 3| for each blow thereof. An actual feed for each hammer blow equal to the spacing of the cap centers is sufficient. Conventionally this is 11g inch.

Heretofore it has been considered necessary to position the caps fairly accurately in order that the blow of the hammer could be concentrated on them. According to the present invention, no effort is made to position the caps at any particular position along their line of movement and the positioning undoubtedly varies from time to time. They are nevertheless exploded with reliability by virtue of the fact that the hammer 3| is made long enough so that, with the conventional spacing of caps in the tape, it cannot fall between two caps without exploding at least one of them. This is also long enough so that it is impossible for a cap which does not quite reach the hammer at the end of one blow thereof to pass beyond it before the next blow thereof. A hammer used experimentally can completely encompass two caps, but at present it is preferred to use one slightly shorter so that its length will be equal to the spacing of the centers of the caps. A width is preferred just wide enough to subtsantially cover the caps reliably. The smaller the hammer is, the less danger there is of wasting part of the striking force on empty paper, but the report is louder if nearly the whole cap is struck. Care should be exercised in making the hammer sturdy enough and mounting it carefully enough so that it will explode a. cap at either end thereof as well as between the ends.

In Fi g.4, itstmaximum stroke has been illustrated although in fact pins 33 might not move it to the position shown.

It is desirable to retard the operation of the hammer and cap feeder so that the caps and the I 46 are idler gears, and gear 43 is fast'on shaft 5|. To the shaft is preferably secured an airmoving element which in the preferred embodi ment, takes the form of an impeller 52. An airmoving element or air brake or governor is preferred because it tends to keep the speed of ring reasonably constant as the spring unwinds.

Ordinary air brakes merely churn the air Without accomplishing anything. According to the present invention, it is preferred to use an air brake to blow smoke out of the muzzle of the gun. To this end, the element 52 or impeller is surrounded by a housing 53 having an intake port 54 and an outlet 56 communicating with tube 51 which terminates at outlet |1 at the muzzle of the gun. As soon as the trigger is pulled, the impeller 52 starts rotating, draws air in through port 54 and expells it through tube 51 and outlet |1. After a few shots have been fired, smoke begins to be discharged from outlet I1. A screen may be provided across intake 54 to keep out debris.

In addition to the retardation of the firing rate by impeller 52, it may sometimes be desirable to make the firing rate even slower than that which would be established by impeller 52. To this end, the trigger I3 is preferably connected to a variable friction brake mechanism. This may assume a variety of forms. In the illustrated embodiment, the brake mechanism is seen best in Fig. 4. Here the brake lever 6| is provided with a slot 62 through which shaft 5| passes. The lever 6| is pivoted to the gear box by a pivot 63 so that when moved to the position shown in Fig. 4, the end of the slot 32 bears against shaft 5| and retards its rotation or, if enough pressure is applied, stops its rotation. Pressure may conveniently be applied by spring 64 which is strung between the end of lever 6| and the end of lever 66, the latter being pivoted to a bracket 61, as seen in Figs. 2 and 4. The lever 66 is pulled forwardly to tighten spring 64 and is actuated in this direction by link 68 and trigger I3 under the influence of spring 69. The spring 69 is stiff enough to stop the rotation of shaft 5| and hence to stop the operation of the gun, even when the main spring I9 is fully wound.

If desired, the trigger I3 could alternatively or in addition be connected to a more positive brake or lock so that as the trigger is pulled, the lock is released to let the gun operate, further manipulation of the trigger operating the variable friction device to control the speed.

The tape of caps is guided along the underside of the anvil by one or more flanges 1|. In the illustrated form, the remainder of the tape after explosion passes through the slot 12 in the side of the gun from which it may occasionally be torn off. If found desirable, a spark shield 13 may be provided adjacent slot 12 so that sparks will not shoot down against the hand that holds the gun.

Besides the portions of the strip which remain intact and pass out through slot 12, there are a number of fragments which remain inside of the gun. These will accumulate and it is desirable to have a simple means for emptying the gun. To this end, a trap door 16 has been illustrated at the bottom of the grip, or stock portion I2, this door being urged closed by a spring 11. If desired, a handle 13 may be provided for opening the door, although this could be omitted if the door were provided with a slight projection at its end to facilitate engaging the end of the door with the fingers.

Most of thel small fragments will be held inside the gun in this manner until they are dumped into a suitable receptacle. In this way, a large part of the mess which is sometimes associated with a cap pistol is avoided. If desired, it may be more completely avoided by having the entire cap strip kept within the gun until a suitable time for discharge instead of providing the sot 12. In this event, it will be necessary to rearrange the parts somewhat so as to be sure that the movement of the tape away from the anvil 31 will not be obstructed.

The housing of the gun may conveniently be made of two halves which may be secured together by screws 8| or by rivets. Rivets will be somewhat safer from the standpoint of discouraging a child from opening the gun. It will be observed that the explosion takes places within a cosed chamber so that the gun will be recognized as an exceptionally safe toy. It is also very realistic in appearance From the foregoing, it is seen that a very satisfactory, rapid-nre automatic cap pistol has been devised, which is extremely realistic in appearance, which res the caps in a safely concealed position, which runs for a satisfactory length of time and has other advantages heretofore pointed out. The feed mechanism is exceedingly simple and eiective. The knurled roller feeds the tape satisfactorily, rolling over the caps without firing them.

The burned powder is somewhat corrosive and corrosion resistant metal or plating may be used where desired for extra long Fife and dependability, although it is not believed necessary.

Many of the features of this invention could be used in a repeating cap shooter in which each pull of the trigger feeds and fires a cap.

I claim:

1. An automatic cap shooter including ring means, means for feeding a tape of caps to the ring means, means for driving the firing means and vfeeding means, means for retarding the operation of the driving means including a gear train, and means for further retarding and stopping the movement of the driving means comprising a brake member constructed and arranged to engage a portion of the moving mechanism with sliding friction, and a trigger so connected to the brake that a given movement of the trigger produces a corresponding but smaller movement of the braking surface to control the amount of friction and the speed of operation of the shooter.

2. A toy cap pistol including a housing having barrel and grip portions, having a port, firing means, cap tape-feeding means and means for driving the firing means and the feeding means to fire a succession of caps, means for retarding the operation of the driving means comprising a gear train and an air propelling member driven thereby, and means cooperating with the air-propelling member to cause it to blow smoke from the caps through the port.

3. A toy cap shooter including a housing having a port, ring means, cap tape-feeding means and means for driving the flring means and the feeding means to nre a succession of caps, means for retarding the operation of the driving means comprising a speed increasing gear train and an air-propelling member driven thereby, and means cooperating with the air-propelling member to cause it to blow smoke from the caps to the port.

4. A cap shooter including a housing. firing means enclosed within the housing, feed rollers for feeding a tape of caps from outside of the housing to the firing means, a chamber for receiving, and constructed eifective retain, debris from the caps, and a door for dumping said debris, a train of gears associated with the ring means to be driven as the ring means operates, and means completely enclosing the gears and isolating them from the chamber and ring means to protect them from the debris and products of combustion of the caps.

5. A cap shooter including firing means, feed rollers for feeding a tape of caps to the firing means, a train of gears associated with the ring means and the feed rollers to be driven as the ring means operates and a casing completely enclosing the train of gears and isolating them from the chamber and firing means to protect them from the debris and products of combustion of the caps.

6. A toy cap shooter including a housing having a port, firing means, cap tape-feeding means and means for driving the ring means and the feeding means to re a succession of caps, means for retarding the operation of the driving means comprising a speed increasing gear train and a blower comprising a casing having inlet and outlet openings and an impeller therein driven by the gear train, and a tube connected to the output opening to confine the output to the tube and extending to the port, said inlet being exposed within said housing whereby the impeller will draw smoke from the housing and blow it through the port.

WILLIAM RIEDE'RICH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 653,749 Mackay July 17, 1900 847,967 Noecker Mar. 19, 1907 947,032 Berbig Jan. 18, 1910 962,223 Jeffery June 21, 1910 1,306,577 Carlson June l0, 1919 1,368,402 Kilgore Feb. 15, 1921 1,422,392 Van Doren July 11, 1922 1,660,175 Peake Feb. 21, 1928 1,886,218 Olin et al. Nov. 1, 1932 1,926,305 Peake Sept. 12, 1933 2,037,313 Duncanson Apr. 14, 1936 2,045,369 Rickenbacher June 23, 1936 2,057,169 Swenson Oct. 15, 1936 2,061,471 Larson NOV. 1'7, 1936 2,088,894 Cathcart Aug. 3, 1937 2,106,648 OConnor Jan. 25, 1938 

